Zone envy

When I post my tropicals on DG, I got a lot of zone envy responses from tropical plant lovers.

Well, for all of you up north, which is pretty much everybody when your in south Florida I have to say that nothing tops your Spring .

I just got back from Seattle and Vancouver while on my first ever Spring ski trip and visited The Washington Park Arboretum. I have never seen anything like the billowing display of rhododendrons in bloom , one after another after another, just amazing. I just wanted to share some of the pics I took

I did arrive home just in time to see a couple of blooms on my Vireya Ring of Fire burst open, nothing as spectacular but still thrills me here.

celt33040, it is indeed a glorious time of the year. I'm in the mid-Atlantic area and have lived here all my life (except for a few short stints more north), and I still wonder at the beauty of spring.

Is that the Washington Park in Portland? Also not to be missed, perhaps even better is the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden on the other side of town. So amazing right now that they charge admission for a short time, but it is so worth it!

Sorry Joie, It's the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle! Those blue ones in the second pic are immense. I would call them trees. Azelea trees.
2 of the 7 azeleas in my front yard are about done. My R. Schlippenbachii (or Royal Azelea) is about 1/3 open. My other 2 big rhodies are budded up but still have another month. It was a rough winter for Seattle; lots of rain (even for here!), windstorms, and several days of snow (I think the average is 4-6 inches per year, but we must have got 12-18" of snow over the last few months.)

Tulips are getting buds (I planted 100 of Dillenburg, and 100 of Queen of Night, in a woven knot pattern). Should look awesome in a month.